Amash’s Likely Primary Win Will Vindicate Libertarian Politics

Justin Amash's expected victory next week will
prove his conservative district likes the congressman's libertarian
brand just fine.

If
current polling is any indication, liberty-friendly Rep. Justin
Amash will coast to victory over his establishment-supported
challenger in the Michigan Republican primary next week.

An Amash
victory would be a win for libertarian candidates everywhere, and a
clear sign that independent and conservative voters prefer the
limited government message to the pro-war, pro-corporate platitudes
of Republican Party leadership.

Amash was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010,
riding into office on a wave of Tea Party opposition to President
Obama’s policies.

He quickly earned a reputation as a libertarian
Constitutionalist, voting against renewal of the PATRIOT Act, NSA
surveillance, foreign military entanglements, and countless
spending bills.

His refusal to compromise his principles and fall
in line behind GOP leadership won him plaudits from libertarians,
though it soon drew the ire of House Speaker John Boehner, who had
him kicked off the House Budget Committee in the wake of the 2012
election.

If that was supposed to be some sort of warning, it didn’t work.

Amash remained as committed to his principles as before.

In July
2013, he succeeded in
bringing forward a vote on a House bill to defund the NSA.

The
vote failed by a mere 12 votes, despite opposition from the White
House and leaders of both parties (regular Americans, perhaps
unsurprisingly, oppose the NSA's surveillance tactics).

Consequently, GOP hawks became serious about taking out Amash once
and for all.

Three months after the NSA vote, West Michigan businessman Brian
Ellis announced his primary challenge to Amash’s re-election
efforts. Ellis drew support from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce,
hawkish Republican leaders like Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), and
PACs and lobbying groups.

Pundits have described the race as a particularly ugly one,
though that ugliness has been entirely one-sided.

Ellis repeatedly
distorted Amash’s voting record in an attempt to portray him as
out-of-step with his conservative district.

Republican
establishment king Karl Rove came to bat for Ellis on national TV,
describing Amash as a liberal Republican and voting ally of
Minority Leader Nancy Pellosi.

It’s the sort of blatant propagandistic demagoguing of
libertarian national security sentiments that might have worked in
the heyday of the Bush and Rove years.

But with Amash up by 20
points and less than a week left to go in the campaign, it seems
voters are well aware that Amash represents a different brand of
Republicanism: one they like better.

Slate’s Dave Weigel spent some time in Amash’s district
and reported that the people there "agree with libertarians about
the NSA." He
wrote:

It was impossible (in a short time, anyway) to find voters in
Ionia who disagreed with Amash’s NSA bill, or at least the way
they’d heard it described.

That’s not really surprising: Voters are increasingly inclined
toward libertarian views on a host of issues.

Amash told Reason that his party has to pay attention
to his successes and adapt.

He said that Republicans elected in
recent years understand that better than their older colleagues and
“are increasingly likely to fight to protect civil liberties, to
oppose corporate welfare, and to allow things to be handled at the
state level," all policy positions that are popular with
conservatives, independents, and younger voters.

Amash has also done more than virtually any other Congressman to
explain his ideology and political positions to the masses.

He has
won praise for routinely and personally justifying his votes on
social media.

"A lot of representatives give their accounts to their staff and
let their staff Tweet," he said.

"I think it's a lot better and
more authentic when it comes directly from the member of
Congress."

This tactic defends Amash from unfair attacks, since people can
decide for themselves what they think about him by simply browsing
his Tweets and Facebook posts.

It also spreads libertarianism;
there is always at least one member of the House giving a
libertarian distillation of a current bill.

Ellis, meanwhile, has remained steadfastly committed to
un-libertarian programs like Common Core and the Export-Import
Bank.

His support for the latter, in particular, was a prime factor
in the Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s decision to back Ellis.

For
organizations that want to protect their subsidies, the difference
between the candidates is clear.

But it's also clear for West Michigan voters. Prospective
libertarian candidates should take note:

Their ideas are catching
on, and they don't have to sell their souls to the Republican
establishment to get get in office—or to stay there.

Robby Soave is a staff editor at Reason.com.

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Here's what We The People can do here now:2014: It's time to work to elect Constitutional Independent Representatives not funded by special interests.Regards, Richard <Ricardo Carlos> Charles

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